Stillness In Time
by ChoppingBoard
Summary: Post war. Hinata misses Neji everyday. The rest of Rookie Nine and Hanabi try to make everything better.


A/N: I personally have a lot of issues on Naruto.

1. I hate it that Neji died. If Naruto taught him that things can change, I hoped that he might've led the Hyuuga clan thereafter/helped Hinata remove the Main/Branch rift. Neji-Hinata was also very much developed that it breaks my heart so much that Hinata stopped thinking of Neji because of Naruto's "big hands". COME ON!

2. Hinata ended up with Naruto. I love Hinata and I don't hate Naruto. I just think that it wasn't as developed as his relationship with Sasuke or Sakura (IMHO, The Last is not enough). The series has always been Naruto trying to rekindle his friendship with Sasuke. I'm not a yaoi fan, but, I wouldn't be surpised if Naruto didn't end up with anybody and we see him walking towards the horizon with Sasuke. I even have a feeling that Kishimoto created Bolt and Salad because it's the closest thing to NaruSasu without defying the manga genre (Yeah, I don't agree with NaruHina and SasuSaku). If Naruto didn't end up with Sasuke, the next in the hierarchy should've been Sakura. During the war, when edo-tensei Minato joined them and saw Sakura healing Naruto, Naruto tells him that Sakura is his girlfriend (Sakura responds by smacking Naruto and Minato briefly remembers Kushina). No need to squint for NaruSaku proof on other eps/chapters as well.

3. Ino should've ended with someone from her team. ShikaIno would've been awesome but we know that ShikaTema was developed up to a certain extent prior to Chapter 700. Ino-Chouji isn't too far off, this was even developed on Rocklee's Springtime of Youth.

4. A lot more stuff which I won't write anymore for now because this note might be longer than the actual fic haha.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

**Stillness in Time**

**By ChoppingBoard**

Chapter 1 – Mourning After

Shikamaru and Ino hurriedly jumped from one rooftop to another to proceed with their mission. After a few more yards, they were finally at arm's length from what they needed to retrieve. Shikamaru kept his crouched position and finally spoke, "Hinata".

The blue-haired girl kept still. She didn't make an effort to face the two, but managed to greet them politely, "Shikamaru-san, Ino-san. Ohayou"

Ino slowly stood up and furrowed her eyebrows. "Hinata, you've got to be kidding me. You really have to go home. It's been four days."

"I went home yesterday. And the other day-"

"Yeah, just to clean yourself and get a change of clothes. Have you even eaten anything at all?" the blonde seemed very irritated and didn't hesitate to interrupt her.

"I am fine Ino. You guys don't need to w-worry." This time, Hinata turned around and smiled at the two.

Obviously, her fatigue was taking its toll on her speech. Shikamaru slowly studied her features. Hinata's complexion was fair, but now she was just pale. Her eyes lacked vibrancy, they were puffy and dark circles were very noticeable. He also noted that her hands were trembling, probably due to lack of sleep. He began to think that the situation is slowly becoming troublesome.

Ino, on the other hand, couldn't contain her emotions anymore and clutched the blue-haired shinobi's shoulders, "Look Hinata, all of our friends are worried." Her voice was slowly beginning to sound high-pitched but she didn't bother adjusting it. "You stay here all day, you don't even eat. When Sakura and Naruto dropped by, they couldn't convince you to leave. Kiba and Shino too! They're your teammates for crying out loud! Even Gai-sensei, Tenten, and Lee dropped by!"

Hinata looked like she was on a daze and didn't even flinch to any of her words.

Shikamaru slowly approached Ino in an effort to calm her down, "Don't touch me Shikamaru! She needs to hear this. This has been going on for too long."

Ino was only a few inches away from slapping Hinata out of her daze when she felt her whole body stop, "Let me go Shikamaru! You're supposed to help me get her. This is not helping at all!" 

"Could you please give me a chance to talk?" He kept Ino still and he approached Hinata. "Hinata, everyone's concerned. Even your dad and Hanabi. Do you think Neji will be happy to see you like this?"

Hinata's right eyebrow twitched when Shikamaru mentioned the name of her cousin. When she kept siilent, he continued, "Knowing him, he won't." He approached the tombstone in front of Hinata and touched it. "Hell, he'll even cast edo-tensei on himself and accompany you home if he can."

"Edo-tensei." Hinata repeated him. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks as she remembered that that's the very reason why a lot of people are grieving. Why she was grieving.

Ino felt the shadow jutsu subside and punched Shikamaru's shoulder. "You idiot! You're upsetting her!" Even if she was shouting a while ago, she couldn't help but kneel and wipe Hinata's tears. After a few strokes, the tears still kept coming so she just hugged her. "Guess we really have to do it then."

Shikamaru stepped on Hinata's shadow just to be sure and Ino started to form hand seals.

They both tried to recall how the series of events led to this. Their team just came from a mission when they heard about what's happening to Hinata. Both of them thought it was absurd for them to use the InoShika bit of their team technique on the Hyuuga heiress at first, but, a few minutes into their confrontation, they decided that it was for the best. The rest of Rookie Nine couldn't think of a less forceful way of bringing Hinata home.

"No, don't-" Hinata squeaked in protest and closed her eyes in order to render the jutsu useless. Hinata would've retaliated if this was a normal day, but her mind and body were too tired to fight. In a few seconds, Ino's body slumped towards Shikamaru and Ino in Hinata's body slowly stood up. She glanced towards the tombstone and offered her respects, "Sorry Neji, we needed to do this."

A/N: Chapter 1 was supposed to be different buttttt this was better. I originally wanted to have pairings on this fic but I'll have to think how it can progress or if Hinata is better off to have someone on this fic.


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